Priceline Hotel: 4* Las Vegas (Strip South) Monte Carlo

[RobG]

Looking for 3 rooms for a company trip.

I bid a little higher that I should. I should have kept it to $65-70 and would have still gotten it.

still a little cheaper than through their site.

Oh well.

[wish2hate]

Sorry to say this but YOU SERIOUSLY GOT A HORRIBLE DEAL...

Check this out, bro

http://www.montecarlo.com/promotions/Default.aspx

[thereuare]

wish2hate,

While the win above may be an overbid, it's not conclusive...

1) you don't know what rates were 10 days ago when the purchase was made (rates in Vegas change frequently)

2) if rates were the same, it essentially amounts to a small overbid and i think calling it a "SERIOUSLY HORRIBLE" deal would be a bit extreme

Of course the bidding approach RobG took could be improved upon, and he should ask for help (and use or PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links) before purchasing his next hotel stay.

[Diamond Dog]

Do the Monte Carlo offer anything like a "Best Rate Guarantee" as with sheraton?

[thereuare]

The purchase was made with PRICELINE so it would be vs. their best rate guarantee, which they do offer, but needs to be done within 24 hours... this reservation was made at least 10 days ago.

[headtrip]

Because Las Vegas is such a huge Hotel market, the best strategy at any time is this:

1. Find the lowest price at a Hotel that you like and then make a cancellable reservation. The cost for this reservation is R

2. Decide how much money you would like to save by staying at a priceline Hotel. The amount should be at least 15% of the price to make it worthwhile. Call the savings percentage S. The number of days before your stay is D.

3. Depending on how much time you have, bid D x 2 + S -100 / 100 x R

For example say you book Planet Hollywood for $100 a night and you want to save at least 25% for a stay 10 days away.

then 10 x 2 + 25 - 100 / 100 X 100 = $55 bid.

Then the next day

9 x 2 + 25 - 100 / 100 X 100 = $57 bid.

Of course if you are bidding more than one zone/using rebid zones, you can multiple bid also at one time.

If were were bidding multiple months out, then obviously don't use the multiple factor of 2 either.

You may be rejected many times, but you can't say that you overbid for a hotel at the same priceline zone and star level as your original Hotel choice.

[RobG]

Thanks everyone.

Overall, not a big deal. The stay was fantastic and it was covered by the company (business trip).

We were upgraded on arrival, so it made me feel better about the whole thing.

Also, the hotel where the convention was held was charging us $249 per night... so all in all still got savings for the company.

I learned my lesson, nonetheless, and now I got $60 for Planet Hollywood for my family trip.

Good advise everyone.